Mark of Thorns
by iced-wine
Summary: Slightly AU. Nightmares Kouyuu thought he had long forgotten resurfaced after a random encounter during the palace banquet. ReishinKouyuu. Written for Springkink prompt.
1. Chapter 1

Reishin had noticed something very odd about the boy. Kouyuu seemed to get exceptionally tense (hostile) whenever someone tried to linger while he dressed or bathed, and needless to say, absolutely no one, not even Reishin, was permitted to help him do either of those two tasks.

"Why do you think that is, Houju?" Reishin, tapping the tip of his fan absently against his chin, asked the unmasked Senior Secretary of Finance sitting across from him.

Houju shrugged, and continued to sip his tea. By now, he was familiar with Reishin's new-found habit of analyzing each and every one of the nitty-gritty details of his recently adopted son's behavior, and was no longer shocked by his friend's unusual (twisted) display of paternal tenderness. "Perhaps he's shy."

Reishin threw him a brief glance before refuting. "He's been here for six months."

"Perhaps he's embarrassed. Boys do reach an age where nudity can no longer be viewed with absolute nonchalance." He suggested again as he set down the tea cup.

"Hmm…." Reishin sighed contemplatively as he sipped his tea. "Perhaps…"

* * *

They were thronging between fat, old geezers dressed in elaborate and expensive robes at the biannual palace banquet—one of those social functions his rank necessitated him to attend. The boy was just a few steps behind him. Reishin could hear his feet shuffling beneath the snow white robe adorned with pale, fluttering cherry blossoms.

He looked back, the warmth that had seeped into his eyes upon remembrance of the boy immediately masked by taunting mockery. "Keep up. I will not take the trouble to find you if you get lost."

Fear crossed the boy's eyes for just a moment, but was stashed away quickly, leaving no trace in its wake. Kouyuu scurried a few steps closer to Reishin, head obediently bowed in a stance of semi-apology.

"Kou Shousho! It's been ages since I've seen—oh! Who is this?" A man, whom Reishin vaguely remembered as belonging to the Department of Imperial Labor, greeted.

Reishin tried hard to suppress the desire to sneer; he had always suspected that self-restraint was not his forte. "This is my adopted son, Li Kouyuu—"

A very…odd…sight greeted him when Reishin turned back to beckon Kouyuu. The boy was standing two steps behind him (and the space seemed to increase with each passing moment, although the reason for which Reishin could not possibly fathom), with lips slightly parted, and a strange expression of terror dominating his features. Breathing seemed a function the boy apparently decided to give up, Reishin noted with fascination, as Kouyuu's chest remained unnaturally motionless during the whole five seconds he was being scrutinized by his adoptive father. The knuckles of his hands, which clutched at his pretty robes with such savage ferocity that Reishin was sure no amount of ironing would ever smooth out the damage, were white.

Reishin cocked a brow in curiosity. He didn't think the man was _that_ unpleasant to look at…

Wait.

Reishin's eyes narrowed. Kouyuu was not looking at what's-his-name from the Department of Imperial Labor.

Following the boy's transfixed gaze, Reishin's eyes locked on a tall, thin figure standing thirty feet to their left, who was currently engaged in what looked like an exceptionally polite conversation with the Senior Secretary of Protocol. Presently, the man bowed lightly and turned to leave, and Reishin saw in the periphery of his vision that his adopted son flinched with each movement.

Then, in a flurry of white, much to Reishin's utter disbelief, Kouyuu bolted and disappeared into the crowd.

He would've gaped, if gaping wasn't so crude and unbecoming.

When Reishin recovered from the shock of seeing Kouyuu actually run in the middle of an imperial banquet, he found that the man, whose name utterly escaped him, was still standing there, waiting for something or the other with an awkward smile on his face.

"He's not quite so fond of strangers." Reishin explained with an air of pompous nonchalance, and walked away.

An hour and half later, Reishin found Kouyuu sitting, in between two rosebushes in the West Wing garden, with his head cradled firmly in the crook of his interlaced arms.

"I'm not amused at having to play hide-and-seek at such inappropriate hours." He hissed sternly. After having looked for an hour and still not catching even a glimpse of Kouyuu's shadow, he had begun to worry that the boy had tripped and fallen into a pond somewhere, and now, looking at Kouyuu's huddled form, his initial relief was fast turning into bottled annoyance.

The boy gasped and sprang up abruptly from the ground, but relaxed visibly a moment later when he realized the identity of the person who had found him.

"Reishin-sama…" Kouyuu's voice shook, if only slightly.

Reishin frowned. The fear he saw in the silver orbs of his son's eyes was unmistakable, if only he could divine the cause…

"Come, I'll listen to your excuse later. It's almost time to leave." He commanded after a moment's pause, then added sarcastically, "Unless of course if you would prefer to sprint home; seeing from your spectacular display of athletic genius earlier, the trip should be a breeze for you."

Kouyuu lowered his head, the silky strands of sea-salt hair falling pitifully onto his cheeks, and murmured, "I'm very sorry, Reishin-sama."

"Hn!" Reishin huffed, snapped open his fan, and walked away, mindful of the light, childish steps trailing behind him.

* * *

"He actually _ran_!" Reishin said petulantly, the fan he always carried with him waving in a swift motion to the side to indicate his exasperation. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone _run_ while attending an imperial banquet!"

And you are far too tolerant of that act to be normal! Houju thought as he glared at his friend across the tea table.

"Did he give a reason for this…improper behavior?" He asked nonchalantly.

Reishin rolled his eyes. "_The room was stuffy. I just wanted to get some fresh air_." He regurgitated with an imitation of Kouyuu's stuttering tone. "In the middle of my introduction of him?! Honestly! His ability to find an excuse is absolutely dreadful!"

"At least now you know he's not a practiced liar." Houju commented absently before taking a sip from the porcelain cup. The aroma of the subdued, faintly sweet freshness of green tea filled his mouth.

"You think I would take him in if he was?" Reishin scoffed. "Anyway, did you find out who was talking with Sai during the banquet?"

"Wang Ryuusen, prominent merchant from the White Province with backgrounds in the textile and iron ore refinery industry."

"Not a noble, then?"

"Apparently not. I suppose he has some connections with one of the officials, to be able to attend the imperial banquet and all."

Hmm…merchant from the White Province…what could he possibly have to do with Kouyuu? Reishin pondered the entire afternoon, as he sat drinking tea with his friend.

* * *

Reishin frowned when Kouyuu sat down at the breakfast table the next morning. The boy looked tired, and dark circles, which the day before had not seemed so blatant, adorned his dull, unfocused eyes.

"Your countenance is quite unpleasant to behold this morning." Reishin commented smoothly. "May I ask the reason for your sudden decision to imitate the living dead?"

Kouyuu winced inwardly at the harsh remarks, but managed to refrain from a visible grimace. "I'm sorry, Reishin-sama. I…just haven't been sleeping well."

Reishin's eyes narrowed. The boy really was a horrible liar! People don't get panda eyes by not sleeping well; people get panda eyes by not sleeping at all.

Actually, Kouyuu hadn't slept for two days, not since he had seen _him_ at the banquet; he was too afraid to close his eyes.

"Well, do try to at least _look_ like a living person. It'll be troublesome if your tutor runs screaming in the opposite direction from mistaking you for a zombie."

* * *

"He's not sleeping. That IDIOT of a boy isn't sleeping!" Reishin remarked heatedly in Houju's office during their usual tea time that afternoon. "Why in heaven's name isn't he sleeping?"

Houju took one look at his exasperated friend, and decided the budding cherry blossoms outside his office window were a sight far more attractive.

The Kou Shousho that everyone thought so cold and unfathomable was actually not a hard person to understand, and certainly a very easy person to predict, that is, if one didn't die before getting close enough to begin that process. Reishin's conception of the world was childishly simple—there were those he cared about, and those he didn't. Period.

Well, he supposed there was a subcategory. For those he cared about, there were the ones he cared about because he loved them, and the ones he cared about because they were on the top of his hit list.

Like he mentioned earlier, a very simple construction of the world with clear separation between black and white.

And one could always tell who fell into which category; Reishin always talked obsessively about those he loved, like Shouka, or Shuurei, or, as in the present moment, Kouyuu, plotted obsessively about those he hated, like Shou Taishi, and ignored obsessively those about whom he didn't give a flying shit.

"Are you even listening to me?"

The highly irritated tone of his friend snapped Houju out of his musings. He turned, and focused his gaze on Reishin.

"No." He answered flatly, his heart bathing in satisfaction when he saw a purple vein pop on Reishin's forehead.

* * *

There was a knock. Reishin looked up from the manuscript. The sight of Kouyuu standing in the doorway greeted him.

"E-Excuse me, Reishin-sama. I-I was wondering…if…if I could borrow some books." The boy faltered, and Reishin noted with great displeasure that the black circles under his eyes seemed to have gotten darker since yesterday morning.

"Do as you like, just be quiet." He replied curtly and returned to his work.

Kouyuu bowed in gratitude, and walked as quietly as possible toward the wall-length bookshelf across from Reishin's desk. He browsed through the books slowly, stalling for as long as possible. Only when he was in Reishin's presence could he reclaim some of the serenity of mind that he had lost upon seeing _him_, only when he was in Reishin's presence could he keep the thrashing sense of panic at bay.

Reishin watched Kouyu's movements out of the corner of his eye. He tracked the boyish form all the while as it drifted slowly across the width of the bookshelf, his eyes narrowing a bit when the boy sat down on the floor with the book he had chosen. So it wasn't as though he wasn't aware of Kouyuu's unnatural behavior of not leaving after having obtained the book he wanted, because he was quite aware of it (so aware, in fact, that he was unable to concentrate on the task he really should be concentrating on), he was just curious to see the real motivation of the boy's visit.

When the sound of slow, even breathing filled the study, Reishin rose from his desk, and came toward Kouyuu. The boy was lying, huddled into a ball, on the floor, with the open book underneath his head like a pillow.

Reishin frowned. The Kouyuu had gotten skinnier, now that Reishin took a closer look at him, so that the leanness of his physique now gave him a fragile edge, and his skin, which was pale to begin with, was so white now that it gave him an overall appearance of gauntness that agitated Reishin in more ways than one.

He had to figure out the cause of Kouyuu's sudden insomnia, and he had to do it soon; the boy was wasting away right before his eyes!

Reishin sighed; it was spring, and the floor was cold. Kouyuu would get sick this way.

Silently, he grabbed the red, fur-lined cloak that he always kept as a spare, and laid it gently across his son's huddled form.

Never mind why Kouyuu was sleeping on the floor of his study, just as long as he was sleeping, Reishin thought with resignation as he returned to his work.

When Kouyuu opened his eyes, the sky outside was already dark. He threw back the cover and sat up, turning guiltily toward Reishin.

A set of candles burned brightly on the ebony desk, illuminating his adoptive father's elegant form behind a sheet of upheld parchment.

He rose, his hips slightly sore from having reclined on the floor for so long, and folded the dark red cloak carefully before placing it on a nearby chair. When he looked up, Reishin's eyes were trained sharply on him.

Kouyuu braced himself for the reproach he was sure Reishin would launch about him falling asleep in the study.

None came, instead, Reishin simply stated, "Dinner's ready."

Kouyuu nodded obediently, a little shocked by the fact that Reishin wasn't angry with him.

Only when he was on the way to the dining room did the thought occur to him—where did that cloak come from?!

* * *

"So he's been sleeping in your study for the past five days?" Houju asked lazily as he gazed out the window of his tea lounge.

"Comes in two hours before dusk, everyday, and sleeps until dinner time." Reishin affirmed. "I suspect it's the only sleep he gets."

Houju turned his gaze away from the blossoming cherry flowers and looked at Reishin, whose tone had taken on a worried edge that he rarely ever heard.

"I overheard the maids talking the other day, they said Kouyuu hasn't been eating properly either, and has lost nearly two pounds already as a result." Reishin supplied while tapping his fan contemplatively on his chin.

Houju rolled his eyes. "You have degraded yourself to eavesdropping on the servants now?"

Reishin whipped his eyes his colleague sharply and glared, "I was merely _overhearing_ a conversation that happened to be between two servants!" He corrected indignantly.

"Given your habit of suddenly becoming a cicada in the presence of Shouka-dono and his family, I _highly_ doubt that fact." Houju retorted unhurriedly, watching with sinful satisfaction as Reishing readied himself to explode at the remark.

Unexpectedly, the childish anger in Reishin's eyes flared and died, leaving him calm and collected in its wake. It was then that Houju knew Reishin was really worried, not just curious, but actually, worried, because when his friend was really serious about something, no amount of jest could distract him.

Houju cleared his throat. "I pulled a background check on Wang Ryuusen; there were a few shady business dealings, but nothing that would connect him with Kouyuu."

"I had the Kou Honke check all his records too, nothing too blatant, although the spies I dispatched haven't returned yet." Reishin concurred, his fan tapping gently in the palm of his hand.

Houju raised a brow. He figured Reishin would send out his spies sooner or later; he just didn't expect it to happen this soon. Well, sometimes Reishin could be rather hard to predict, especially when the situation involved the wellbeing of his precious son.

* * *

At two hours till dusk, as expected, Kouyuu came in through the doors of his study.

Kouyuu bowed before him as a gesture of greeting. Reishin looked up from his paperwork, taking stock of the worsening pallor of Kouyuu's countenance. Sleeping only four hours a day was starting to have major tolls on the boy, and the butler told him that recently Kouyuu was beginning to throw up what little food he did eat. The fine, silk robe, which was fitted exactly to Kouyuu's body, was now visibly hanging on his thinning frame.

Perhaps it would be appropriate now to summon a physician…

Reishin sighed, a slight nod of his head serving as acknowledgement of his son's presence, and buried his head amongst his paperwork again.

Within moments, Kouyuu's head was on the desk, preparing to go to sleep.

When he was sure that Kouyuu would not be waking up any time soon, Reishin carefully rose from his seat, checking that the blanket was tight enough around the boy for the last time, before going quietly out the door to meet his guest.

Kouyuu opened his eyes, and almost immediately, he knew something was amiss in the room. His heart was pounding too fast in his chest, and the scarce sense of security that always enshrouded him in Reishin's study was nowhere to be found. He glanced hurriedly toward the great oak desk of his father. The chair was empty. Reishin was gone.

He sprang up from his seat, the red, fur-lined cloak falling with a soft _thud_ to the floor with the panicked swiftness of the gesture. The sky was still light when Kouyuu stepped out of the master study; it was probably around one hour till dusk. Where would Reishin-sama go at such an hour? Kouyuu wondered to himself as he paced impatiently and aimlessly down the corridor. The bathroom, perhaps? He halted slightly on that thought. Well, it was reasonable…

Kouyuu's brisk pace slowed; he would've turned around to go back to the master study, save for the faint sound of Reishin's voice drifting into his ears from the inner reception hall, the place Reishin usually received his guests.

Curious to see who was brave enough to make a house call on Kou Reishin, Kouyuu made quietly for the back entrance of the reception hall.

From his position behind one of the pillars, Kouyuu could just see the side of the person's face, but that incomplete, momentary glance was more than enough for him to recognize the man's identity. The familiar cascade of his long, silky hair, the way a few strands poised on his slender yet muscular shoulder just so without spilling over, the smooth skin and finely chiseled features that held a veiled sharpness that few ever detected, and the cruel, playful scorn of his eyes…all those things were etched into Kouyuu's memory as though by the thorns of roses.

Reishin caught the whirl of aquamarine just as it disappeared through the back entrance. Instinctively, Reishin knew something had gone wrong.

Damn it! The boy wasn't supposed to be awake for another three hours! He thought with an inward groan.

With a few meaningless excuses, Reishin cut the interview short and headed back to the inner compound of the Kou manor, directly toward Kouyuu's bedroom.

Two maids were standing outside his son's room, taking turns in knocking the door. Reishin's eyes narrowed.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

The maids' faces blanched upon seeing him, which Reishin promptly ignored, and, bowing, they hurriedly stuttered a reply in unison. "W-We were cleaning Kouyuu-sama's room when Kouyuu-sama suddenly burst in. Kouyuu-sama told us to get out and then locked the door behind us. He looked rather pale, so we thought…we thought…"

Reishin reached out and tried the door—locked. A slight frown blossomed on his countenance; he knocked on the wooden frame.

"Kouyuu, open the door!" He commanded harshly.

No answer.

The knocks became irritated bangs. "Open the door this instant, Kouyuu!"

Still, the door remained unmoving.

He'd better not be doing anything stupid in there…Reishin thought with just a touch of panic as he issued the order, "Bring me a sword."

Inserting the blade expertly into the cracks between the doors, Reishin tilted the sword forcefully upward. The wooden lock inside was severed cleanly in half.

"You two are dismissed. Go about your normal tasks. Do not alarm anyone." He commanded before entering the room.

Once inside, it took him a moment to find Kouyuu's huddled form in a corner of the inner chamber. The boy was looking fearfully at him, and Reishin, who was quite accustomed to being on the receiving end of that emotion, couldn't say he was pleased at all when it was Kouyuu who looked at him like that.

Sighing, he seated himself at the round tea table, and beckoned the boy with a voice kept carefully neutral. "Come here."

Kouyuu hesitated for a moment, the expression in his eyes still apprehensive and guarded, then rose and ambled toward him slowly.

"I do not appreciate having my…request," He refrained from using 'command', as Kouyuu was not one of his servants to be ordered around. "of having your door unlocked, ignored." He paused and leveled his gaze at his son. "And I _especially_ do not appreciate it when I have to cut the lock in two with a sword in order to gain access to your room."

Kouyuu's head was bowed low, so low that his chin almost touched his chest. Softly, like the cries of a newborn kitten, he murmured, "I'm sorry, Reishin-sama."

"I trust you'll be prudent enough not to repeat the same mistake twice?" Reishin's voice was still kept painstakingly neutral, with that slight edge of mocking nonchalance that was so characteristic of his tone, and strangely, his antics seemed to be working; Kouyuu seemed to be calming down.

"Yes, Reishin-sama." When Kouyuu answered, the tense, uncertain edge of his voice was almost entirely gone.

For weeks afterwards, Reishin would remember, quite painfully, the next sentence that came out of his mouth as the most imprudent misjudgment of situation he had ever had the misfortune of making in his entire existence as a human being.

"What is Wang Ryuusen to you?"

The first sign of disaster came when Kouyuu took two steps back immediately upon hearing his question, or more precisely, the name.

"W-What?" The boy gasped, his breath hitching at the throat and his eyes widening in an expression characteristic of a deer that had just seen the ambush of lions.

Reishin had the inkling that he should just drop the topic right there, but somehow, the words just kept on spilling out of his mouth. "What, or rather, who is Wang Ryuusen to you?" He repeated, with emphasis on the name.

Kouyuu opened his mouth, but for a long time no sound issued forth. Unconsciously, he backed away from his guardian, all the while trying to fight the sense of panic that exploded in his head and was descending fast down his spine.

"No one, he's no one." He lied, his voice hoarse. "I don't…I don't know any Wang Ryuusen…"

The scars on his back…they were burning as though bleeding anew…

"He's no one...I don't know Wang Ryuusen…he's no one…"

Reishin listened to Kouyuu's incoherent babble calmly, noting with curiosity that Kouyuu had not met, had not been able to meet, his eyes since he asked the question, and his eyes narrowed when Kouyuu wrapped both arms around himself in a self-imposed hug. Then, upon closer inspection, he realized Kouyuu wasn't hugging himself, he was clutching his clothes, the act instinctively thoughtless, as though afraid they might suddenly fall off, as though hiding something…

He rose from his seat, the act causing Kouyuu to gasp and recoil, and asked, louder this time, "How do you know Wang Ryuusen? Do not lie to me, Kouyuu! I know you know who he is!"

_You've been a very bad boy…bad boys have to be punished…_

That voice…the voice Kouyuu had forgotten for years…the voice that had so dominated him as a boy…

Kouyuu covered his ears with his hands and squeezed his eyes tightly shut, and screamed, his body doubling over with the effort, "I don't know any Wang Ryuusen! I don't know any Wang Ryuusen! He's no one to me! He's no one…I don't know him, he's no one to me…I don't…"

Endlessly, Kouyuu repeated those phrases, as though chanting a mantra without the usual serenity of mind associated with it. Reishin wondered who Kouyuu was trying to convince.

"Wang Ryuusen is no one…he's no one…I don't know him…"

_You know what to do. Hands against the table…_

_…bad boys have to be punished… _

Pitifully, he watched as his son shook his head wildly from side to side, chanting that silly phrase as though in fervent prayer, and decided his timing of the question was rather misfortunate. Slowly, he advanced toward Kouyuu's shaking figure.

"Never mind. Calm yourself. There's no need to be agitated over such a trivial topic." He said evenly.

But at that moment, inexplicably, Kouyuu's eyes snapped open and stared fearfully at Reishin. "Please, Aniue, I'm sorry! I promise I'll never do it again…" He pleaded, simultaneously backing away from Reishin's looming figure.

Aniue?

Reishin's brows knitted. "Kouyuu?"

"I promise! Aniue, please! I'll never do it again!" Tears were coursing down Kouyuu's cheeks, and, what was the culmination of terror, saturated his eyes. The sight unnerved Reishin.

"Kouyuu, snap out of it!" He commanded, too harshly, he realized with regret a moment later when Kouyuu started trembling like autumn leaves in the wind.

"Please don't, Aniue. I'll be good! I promise! I promise! Aniue, please!" Kouyuu had backed against the wall; there was no room left for him to go, and when he became aware of that fact, his voice took on a new edge of desperation that left the bitter taste of bile in Reishin's mouth. "Aniue, please! Please! I won't do it again! Please, Aniue…NO!"

Reishin almost jumped. The sound Kouyuu made when Reishin's hands closed on his shoulder was unearthly. Wildly, he thrashed in Reishin's grasp, flailing his arms in all directions like a freshly trapped animal while screaming hysterically, "NO! PLEASE DON'T! NOO! PLEASE! DON'T! ANIUE! PLEASE!" like a dying prey convulsing in a last attempt to escape.

Then, abruptly, his son's body went limp.

Panic gripped Reishin.

"Kouyuu? Kouyuu?" He called worriedly, but the boy in his arms didn't respond. "SUMMON DR. TOU, NOW!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Excuse me, danna-sama. A note has arrived from Kou Reishin-sama. The courier said it's urgent." A servant informed Houju as he was about to dine.

An urgent note from Reishin…hmm…how curious…

"Bring it here." He ordered.

_Kouyuu just suffered a severe case of nerves. Come quickly. _

A single line, simple and straight to the point, but the emotions behind it were much more complex.

"Prepare my horse."

Houju stepped into Kouyuu's bedroom just in time to catch Tou Roushi exit the door. He hurried inside.

Reishin was sitting at the round table in the antechamber, his gaze locked firmly on the white porcelain tea cup in his hands.

"How is he?" Houju asked as he took a seat next to Reishin.

"The disorientation and fainting were a culminate result of prolonged stress, lack of sleep, and improper dietary habits. Tou Roushi gave him some opium to tranquilize him. He's sleeping now, but he might start running a fever an hour or two later, in which case his condition will become very dangerous." Reishin replied mechanically, his voice devoid of a single trace of emotion.

Houju frowned. "What happened?"

Reishin glanced over at him momentarily, then, sighing, buried his face in the palm of his hand. "I wanted to see for myself just what kind of a person is Wang Ryuusen, so I invited him over. Kouyuu walked in on us."

"And fainted from disorientation?" Houju asked doubtfully.

There was a pause, before Reishin continued, "No." He heaved another sigh. "He locked himself in his room. I forced an entry and asked him about Wang Ryuusen, then he fainted from disorientation. I knew I shouldn't have asked him, but for some reason I just couldn't stop myself. Quite foolish, no?"

Houju looked at his friend, at the self-mocking expression on his face, and thought ironically that of all the times he had dreamed of Reishin dropping his arrogant god-complex personality, the one time Reishin actually did he was unable to break out in explosive mocking laughter.

"Yes, quite." He couldn't break out in explosive mocking laughter, but there was nothing stopping him from rubbing it in as much as humanly possible.

Half an hour later, the fever started, much to everyone's dismay, as it came far too soon. Tou Roushi, with a frown etched firmly on his brows, ordered preparations to be made for an herbal bath.

"Usually an herbal bath will remedy even the most severe of illnesses, but I'm afraid to use anything to potent right now, as Kouyuu-dono's body is far too weak to handle the extra strain." Tou Roushi explained as he dumped the pre-prepared bag of herbs into the wooden tub of hot water. "The willow bark and turtle blood will help stabilize his vital functions while the reishi is steadying his temperature, although epithelial absorption of turtle blood is quite uncomfortable, so someone should stay with him while he's in the bath."

Two maids came in and began undressing Kouyuu for the herbal bath.

"Stop!" Reishin, who had been quiet during all of Tou Roushi's explanation, declared suddenly, successfully making everyone in the room, including Houju, jump.

Kouyuu didn't like it when others undressed him, and if any one was going to go against his wishes, it was going to be Reishin.

Quietly, he said, "I'll do it."

Everyone left the room, Houju included.

Gingerly, Reishin took a seat on Kouyuu's bed, staring at the serene countenance of his sleeping son. Then, carefully, as though afraid he might break Kouyuu like a porcelain doll by accident, Reishin started unbuttoning the boy's white under-robe, revealing the pale torso underneath, which looked flushed from the fever. Running his arms gently under Kouyuu's back, he drew the boy slowly up into his arms to remove the robe completely.

His fingers felted them first, the unnatural lines on Kouyuu's back. For a moment Reishin was afraid to look, to verify with his eyes what his mind already knew.

This is not the moment for cowardice! Reishin thought sternly to himself.

Gently, he flipped Kouyuu onto his stomach, exposing the boy's bared back to complete view.

Reishin stifled a gasp.

Crisscrossing lines in varying degrees of depth, intricate, like the disrupted web of a geometric design, adorned the white expanse of Kouyuu's back. Reishin trailed a finger tentatively along the burning flesh, a feeling of nausea assaulting him as he felt the slightly raised texture of where the whip had drawn a cruel, perfect line diagonally across Kouyuu's right shoulder blade.

This was what Kouyuu was hiding. This was the reason no one was allowed to see his body.

When Reishin lowered Kouyuu into the herbal bath, his hands shook.

For hours Reishin and Houju watched over Kouyuu, the heavy scent of herbs surrounding them. The opiate unconsciousness wore off some time during the first hour, replaced by a state of feverish delirium, during which Reishin had to hold the boy still lest he drowned himself in an effort to escape the pain induced by the turtle blood.

"It hurts…" Kouyuu whined softly as he squirmed against the hands that held his shoulders in place.

Reishin's heart clenched at his son's broken whisper. He wanted to pull the boy out this instant, he wanted to take away the pain that was gnawing at Kouyuu, and it took all of his resolve to not follow through with that medically unsound impulse. Gently, he whispered against Kouyuu's ear, "I know, Kouyuu, it's just for a little while."

Two hours into the bath, Kouyuu begun to cry.

"It hurts…" He whimpered softly against his father's palm, which cradled the side of his head. "It really hurts…"

Burning tears trickled against Reishin's hand, through his fingers, and into the calm surface of the water; the sound of Kouyuu's quiet sobs washed against his ear like tidal waves, bathing him in all the feeling of helplessness a child's broken voice could induce. Soothingly, he patted the boy's arm, all the while whispering, "It's alright Kouyuu, it'll just be a little bit longer. Everything will be okay."

Silently observing the interaction, Houju was finally beginning to understand the reason Reishin picked Kouyuu. It was marvelous, really, how the boy was able to bring out so many colorful sides of Reishin that he had never knew existed before.

* * *

It was almost two o'clock in the morning, four changes of water later, when Tou Roushi finally declared Kouyuu out of danger. 

"He's still running a low fever, but that should go down in a few days. In the mean time, I'm prescribing some white chrysanthemum and peppermint, to be taken twice a day, to dissipate his heat. I'll be back later to check on him again." Tou Roushi instructed as he packed up his medicine chest. "Make sure he eats properly and gets plenty of rest. Oh, and most importantly, try to keep him calm. Do not upset him under any circumstances, otherwise there's no say how bad the relapse might be."

Reishin and Houju nodded obediently like scolded children.

With twenty towels (testament of Reishin tendency to take everything to the extremes, Houju noted with irritation) laid out on the bed, Reishin proceeded to lift Kouyuu out of the tub. With his sleeves rolled up, he slid his arms gently under Kouyuu's arms, his skin burning slightly from the heat of the water, and pulled his son's body out of the tub. With his flushed face and damp hair against Reishin's neck, Kouyuu whimpered, almost instantly, from the sudden chill. Quickly, Reishin wrapped the trembling boy in the layers of towels, and patted him dry.

"You robes are wet." Houju pointed out as he watched Reishin tuck the blankets tightly around Kouyuu's neck.

"It's fine." Reishin replied absently.

"You'll smother him to death that way." He commented again.

"Shut up." The other replied tersely, but despite his words, he loosened the covers around Kouyuu just a little.

Houju waited until Reishin stopped fussing around Kouyuu, then spoke again. "I haven't had dinner."

Reishin turned and glared at him. The point he was getting at was that Reishin probably haven't had dinner either, and standing over a sick boy for six hours straight was no light task.

"Go tell the servants to prepare something for you." The veins on Reishin's forehead were popping, he noted with utter amusement.

"You yanked me out of my house, at least have the courtesy to dine with your guest." He retorted evenly, in his perpetual monotone.

"YOU ARE NOT A GUEST!" The only thing that stopped Reishin from screaming those words was Kouyuu's sleeping form on the bed.

"Didn't Tou Roushi say something about not upsetting Kouyuu? How do you think Kouyuu would feel if he woke up to find you sick in bed due to exhaustion? Do you think he'll be _upset_?" Yes, he, Kou Houju, the Senior Secretary of Finance, had resorted to blackmail, but the expression on Reishin's face made the moral chastisement all well worth it.

* * *

Kouyuu's eyes slowly fluttered open. The burning ray of the afternoon sun fell in shafts through the window, illuminating a figure, dressed in an elaborate burgundy robe, seated beside his bed. He tried to rise, but his head felt so heavy, and his arms only gave a feeble shake before giving out completely under him. 

"I see you've decided that four o'clock in the afternoon is a far more appropriate hour to wake up than morning." Came a voice beside him, monotonous, yet without its usual bite.

"Rei…" He tried to speak, but the words scratched and died in his parched throat.

A moment later two strong hands raised him up, stuffing pillows from out of nowhere behind his back. Suddenly he was overtaken by the faint smell of chrysanthemum and mint.

"Open your mouth." Reishin commanded as he held a spoonful of clear liquid against Kouyuu's lips.

He obeyed, and immediately the clean, sweet taste of ice sugar coated his mouth. Unfortunately, his head was still swirling too much for him to marvel at the fact that Reishin-sama was feeding him.

"What happened?" Kouyuu asked as Reishin set the empty bowl on the nightstand.

Reishin peered at him for a while, before answering slowly, "You ran a very high fever. The medicine Tou Roushi prescribed knocked you out for a while." He selected his words carefully, deciding not to mention the fact that lack of sleep and nutrition directly contributed to his illness, as that might bring up the associated memories of _why_ he didn't sleep and eat properly, which would, without doubt, trigger memories of _him_.

"Oh." The swirling of his head made him sleepy…

As such, Kouyuu seemed to have no recollection of what happened that afternoon, and Reishin was more than happy to leave things at that.

"Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time for dinner."

* * *

"Well, the fever has certainly dissipated. Excellent! But his body is still too weak. Proper nutrition and ample rest are crucial to his complete recovery, but I trust you will see to that, Kou Shousho?" Tou Roushi eyed Reishin meaningfully when he returned for Kouyuu's checkup a few days later. 

Reishin snapped open his fan, the top of which covered half of his face, and mumbled petulantly, "Of course."

Proper nutrition and ample rest, Kouyuu found out to his dismay, meant two bowls of ginseng tortoise soup on top of an impossibly large-portioned diet to be taken daily in total confinement to his bed, except for bathroom breaks. All this Reishin had declared mandatory after Tou Roushi's departure, and had personally monitored since by sweeping into Kouyuu's room everyday soon after the crack of dawn with a large pile of paperwork, which he completed throughout the course of the day while making sure that Kouyuu finished every last drop of his ginseng tortoise soup, and that he didn't do anything more stressful than light reading.

Kouyuu's first evasion attempt came four days later, when color was finally returning to his cheeks and his arms no longer shook every time he held anything heavier than a book. There was still a third left in his evening bowl of soup, and Kouyuu thought he really might regurgitate his entire dinner if he had to bear another mouthful of the bitter taste of ginseng.

Reishin stood up from the table upon the sound of the bowl being set down, and came over to Kouyuu's bedside. His brows creased almost immediately.

"There's still a third left." He informed softly, the threat in his voice thinly concealed.

With the most innocent expression, Kouyuu looked up and met his eyes, and at that moment, Reishin thought, _Children, definitely the bane of my existence!_

"I really can't drink it anymore." Kouyuu replied guiltily, his lips puckering slightly in a pout.

Reishin's heart skipped a beat. It was definitely a conspiracy of some sort, the way Kouyuu looked so cute.

"It makes me nauseous." _There, the fatal punch_, Reishin's mind chirped as he glared at his son.

Better to lose one battle than to lose the entire war, Reishin reasoned with himself, for if Kouyuu really threw up his dinner, all of his previous efforts would've gone to waste.

"If you had eaten normally before you would not have to drink the soup now." Battle or not, Reishin still couldn't stop himself from the vicious comment. His gratification was short-lived, however, as regret took over quickly when Kouyuu's head lowered, strands of aquamarine obscuring the full view of his eyes.

Reishin heaved a sigh. "Fine." He conceded peevishly, and removed the bowl.

The next morning, another bowl containing liquid of even thicker viscosity was placed on his nightstand. Kouyuu frowned.

"What is that?"

"Do not sneer, that expression does not become such a young boy as yourself." Reishin retorted without looking up from his breakfast, which he was taking, yet again, in Kouyuu's bedroom with a pile of scrolls. "That's ginseng, tortoise, and pigeon soup."

Kouyuu's frown slipped into an expression of moroseness.

"Try it before you mourn over your horrible fate. The cook said the pigeon should help cover up the bitterness of the ginseng." Because if it didn't, I would have her head. Reishin finished mentally.

* * *

"He doesn't sleep unless I'm in the room." Reishin complained exasperatedly to Houju, over their customary afternoon tea session in the Department of Finance. 

"I heard the Department of Civil Affairs is swamped six feet deep in work." Houju commented monotonously.

"Well, at least now he can sleep without clutching a piece of my robe. Reading reports all night long in sitting position is quite unpleasant, although I can't honestly say that sleeping while bending over a dinner table is that big of an improvement. Perhaps I should order a bed to be placed in there, but then again, if I did, Kouyuu might notice…" Subject ignored. No one's need measured up to those of Kouyuu.

Houju rolled his eyes. "You've been ditching work for over a week."

"Well, if he could just go to sleep and stay asleep by himself then I wouldn't need to ditch work now, would I?!" Reishin fired back, his fan waving pettily back and forth.

One really could not deny Reishin's skill; his department was hell on earth even without his immediate presence…

"Have your spies returned?" Houju asked a moment later, when the taste of a fresh sip of green tea permeated his tongue.

"Oh, they've returned for some time, I just haven't received them." He paused. "The little brat wakes up three or four times a night. I'm afraid that he'll have another fit if he can't find me."

Houju's eyes sharpened imperceptibly. He had never seen Reishin admit so openly his love for anyone aside from Shouka.

"I saw the scars, on Kouyuu's back." Houju admitted after a short pause.

Reishin turned and stared at him, the seriousness in his eyes unbelievably clear. "Then you will not speak of it, ever again, to anyone."

His voice was even and soft, but the threat in it was unmistakable; it promised a lifetime's un-forgiveness if Houju did not comply.

Such was Kou Reishin…Houju mused afterwards, unimaginably nonchalant about most things, but equally, unimaginably serious about those he loved.

* * *

Reishin walked briskly toward the inner compound after he dismounted from the carriage. The butler hurried forward to take his cape. 

"How is he?" He asked on the way to Kouyuu's bedroom.

"Kouyuu-sama finished his lunch without any mishap, and is taking a nap right now. The maid said he was relatively calm, although he did inquire after the precise time of your return several times." The butler answered dutifully.

"Hmm…" He pushed open the door softly, and strode straight over to his son's bed. The curtains were drawn, a sign, which he had learned, that meant Kouyuu was afraid.

He withdrew the fabric, and almost instantly, Kouyuu's eyes snapped wide open. Reishin could tell from the alarm that permeated his son's eyes that Kouyuu was having another nightmare. He laid a hand on Kouyuu's arm, and murmured gently, "Don't panic, it's just me."

"Reishin-sama…" Kouyuu managed to squeeze out, but his voice still held that edge of fear that instigated in Reishin the urge to kill.

"Those idiots at the palace are utterly incompetent, I mean honestly! I take a mere ten-day vacation and already the workload has piled into a small mountain!" Reishin whipped open his fan and sneered (apparently, his habit of complaining about his work to Kouyuu started early…). "I'll be here all day, and probably all night too, trying to finish it all…!"

That was a lie. He could finish it all within a few minutes if he wanted to…the keyword being _if _he wanted to.

Kouyuu smiled wearily. He harbored a growing suspicion that Reishin-sama knew about his inability to sleep without the latter's presence.

Even though there was a supposed mountain of work waiting for him, even though it would supposedly take him hours to finish, Reishin didn't move from Kouyuu's bedside for a long time after the boy had drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Two weeks later, after Tou Roushi finally cleared Kouyuu for some light physical exertions, Reishin returned to his own bedroom for the first time in three weeks. 

He sat on the bed, waiting patiently. The rest of the manor had gone to sleep, and the only sound was that of the rustling of trees outside. A weak ray of moonlight filtered through the opened window,

A figure dressed entirely in black, seeming to have been born from the shadows, unveiled himself and kneeled before the Kou clan leader.

"Good evening, Reishin-sama." The voice, deep yet with practiced quiet, greeted him.

"Well?"

"There were a few boys in the Wang manor several years ago. One in particular, the son of the youngest concubine of Wang Ryuusen's father, was rumored to have been a favorite of Wang Ryuusen, the young master of the manor then. The concubine was of low birth, so she didn't carry much weight in the family, and since Wang Ryuusen was the eldest son of the family, and greatly favored by his father, his actions in the house were largely unopposed. It was also rumored that Wang Ryuusen was prone to mood swings, and would sometimes treat his half brother with the utmost care and protectiveness, to the point of obsession, and other times whip him so severely that the boy was unable to get up for several days as a result. Three years ago, this boy ran away from the Wang manor, probably unable to withstand Wang Ryuusen's abuse, and no one has heard of him since." The man related calmly.

"Are you sure the boy is Kouyuu?" Reishin asked very quietly, almost hoping that the answer was no, because he will open the gates of hell for Wang Ryuusen if it was.

"I can't confirm that entirely, but according to the description of the kitchen maid, the boy had hair the color of the most unusual shade of aqua…" The spy replied carefully.

Aqua-colored hair…it really was Kouyuu….

"You may go." Reishin dismissed, his tone so soft that it was barely audible.

The man bowed and disappeared, as swiftly as the passing shadow of a cloud, through the open window.

The linen sheets twisted beneath Reishin's fingers. It was not longer anger that was flaring in his chest, but hatred, pure, undiluted hatred for Wang Ryuusen that tumbled ceaselessly inside of him like the strained prances of a caged animal. He couldn't sleep for that seething hatred; the image of Kouyuu being whipped replayed itself repeatedly in his mind, in all the different angles and settings possible.

More than three years ago…Kouyuu couldn't have been more than five or six at the time…! If the damage had been done at a later age, if he had been older, Kouyuu's fear of Wang Ryuusen might not have been so deep-rooted…

His conclusion, by the time the sun was starting to shower its light for the coming day, was that death would not suffice for the penance of Wang Ryuusen's sins. After all, good things must be savored carefully, and most important of all, slowly.

* * *

"And, so? What will you do?" Houju asked in his customarily casual tone during their tea session the next afternoon. 

"I don't know. There are just so many ways I can destroy him, it's rather hard to make a choice." Reishin replied thoughtfully, but today the tone of his voice had a foreign, cruel edge to it that quieted any qualms on Houju's part as to exactly why Reishin was chosen as the head of the Kou clan.

"You could always ruin him socially—destroy his reputation with scandals, strip him of his titles and estates, devastate his business and grind him so far in debt that his great-grandchildren four generations down the road will still be repaying it." Houju suggested smoothly.

"Well, of course, that's a given. But in some instances one must exact one's revenge in creative ways. Simply going the usual route of destroying the opponent's social and financial backings is boring." Reishin retorted almost petulantly.

Houju cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what do you propose?"

Reishin stared at his friend thoughtfully for a moment, the cruelty in his eyes hard and sharp like the glaring light of a diamond, before looking away slowly to the cherry trees outside the window and whispering, almost like a sigh, softly, "Some times it is more fun to break people, not only their bodies, but their minds as well. To tear his confidence and basic sense of security to utter shreds, to slowly but firmly sand down his sanity till the will to live is not even comprehensible to him anymore, that is what I will do."

It didn't matter Wang Ryuusen was before Reishin met Kouyuu. It didn't matter that Wang Ryuusen will never lay an eye, let alone a hand, on Kouyuu again. To be able to place such an expression of fear in Kouyuu's eyes, to be able to make Kouyuu tremble with his mere presence, for those things Wang Ryuusen would suffer the deepest and darkest furies of hell, for those things Wang Ryuusen would wish from this day forward that he had been released onto death.

* * *

A soft knock made Reishin look up from his work. 

"You wanted to see me, Reishin-sama?" His son, now almost completely recovered from his illness, inquired respectfully.

For a moment, Reishin marveled at the sight of Kouyuu standing healthily before him, and even more so, at the unfathomable feeling of elation that accompanied the sight.

"Yes, close the doors behind you." Reishin commanded when he snapped back to reality.

Kouyuu came and stood in front of Reishin's desk after complying.

Reishin cleared his throat, and began softly, "This is the only time I'm ever going to mention him in front of you, after this I shall never speak of this matter again."

Kouyuu blinked nervously, ransacking his brain for anything that he might have done wrong in the past two weeks.

"Tomorrow, Wang Ryuusen" Kouyuu's sudden tenseness at the name didn't escape Reishin, but he forced himself to continue. "will find that, for reasons unfathomable to him, or anyone else for that matter, his lucrative proposal of becoming the government's sole supplier of refined iron has been vetoed with no hope of a repeal or reconsideration. On his very disappointed trip back to the White province, all the while unaware that this would be the last time he will ever set foot inside Kiyou, he will be attacked by a group of particularly vicious bandits. Once in the White Province, a series of inexplicable mishaps will happen to him and his family, _all_ of his family, which will result in the gradual but certain decline of his social and financial backing. Within a year the Wang manor will be reduced to pebbles and squandered furniture, and its remaining inhabitants to tenants of a small, tattered wooden shack. However, Wang Ryuusen's streak of bad luck will not stop there. He will find that, as though by divine intervention, any trade that he tries to enter is closed to him, and as a result, nothing short of begging will provide him with enough sustenance to survive. Small mishaps will happen during the few years that he will survive by hunting and gathering on the street, but what would be the result of the accumulation of so many unfortunate tragedies, be it insanity or attempted suicide, one could not really say." Reishin finished smoothly, without even a single place of falter.

For a long while Kouyuu stood, unmoving, then, slowly, with tears threatening to fall from his misted eyes, he gave a deep bow.

"Yes, Reishin-sama." He murmured.

_I will remove all that truly hinders you, all that you cannot overcome, because since I saw you for the first time, I could not help but want to protect you…_


End file.
